Packed Calendars Rule Over Executives

By

Carol Hymowitz

Updated June 16, 2008 11:59 p.m. ET

Daniel Vasella, CEO of Novartis AG, is in charge of 98,000 employees in 140 countries at his giant drug and health-care-products company, which had $38.1 billion in revenue last year. Yet for all his authority, he sometimes feels like a prisoner -- to his calendar.

"I'm locked in," he says. He is booked nearly solid until September, with back-to-back meetings and trips that were scheduled months ago. "Due to the constraints, I have to put down in priority things I like to do and that would be very...